by Dr. Evan Auguste and Veronica Agard
In the wake of the current U.S. political administration, there is an urgent push for community building as people seek safety, solidarity, and resilience. However, it’s essential to note that community cannot be rushed or commodified. Meaningful relationships take time to build, requiring trust, reciprocity, and deep care. When community is treated as a product rather than a practice, it risks becoming transactional rather than transformational.
During moments of crisis, the impulse to create quick support networks is understandable, but without the slow, intentional work of relationship-building, these efforts can become extractive or unsustainable. Community is not simply about shared identity or proximity but about shared commitment. It is forged through collective accountability, deep listening, and the honoring of histories that shape our present. We see this in circle work and practices across the Black Diaspora and the teachings of Native Americans as well.
For those doing healing, cultural, and/or justice work, the pressure to create community overnight can lead to burnout, disillusionment, and harm. The rise of digital spaces has further complicated this, as the language of kinship and care is often used to brand movements, content, and initiatives in ways that flatten the depth of real connection. While social media can be a tool across space and time and can be more inclusive to our disabled kin, it alone cannot replace the embodied work of showing up for one another over time.
Instead of rushing to build something that looks like community, we must commit to the patient work of tending to it. Building this out takes time and is absolutely a part of “the work,” even if that means looking up collectives and groups that already exist and need your support. This also means acknowledging the histories that inform our relationships, addressing power dynamics, and ensuring that community is a space of mutual nourishment and reciprocity rather than obligation and extraction.
It requires us to ask: Are we building something sustainable? Are we moving at the speed of trust (as per adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategies)? Are we honoring our ancestors whose ways of gathering were rooted in long-term care?
By resisting the commodification of community, we ensure that what we create is real, resilient, and rooted in integrity.
“Community is not just a gathering of people; it is a spiritual entity, nourished by shared stories, collective healing, and a deep sense of belonging.” - Malidoma Patrice Some
Resources:
Communities of Care for Liberation by Yashna Maya Padamsee
Care Beyond a Crisis — Heritage by Veronica Agard
The Healing Wisdom of Africa - Malidoma Patrice Some
How Do I Take Action Where I Am? - Mariame Kaba
Mapping Our Social Change Roles in Times of Crisis by Deepa Iyer
HIGH HOLY DAYS IN PANDEMIC TIMES: finding awe in the unravel – Dori Midnight
The Land in Our Bones: Plantcestral Herbalism and Healing Cultures from Syria to the Sinai--Earth-Based Pathways to Ancestral Stewardship and Layla K. Feghali
Kim Saira’s Care guide - cozecare - Link in Bio & Creator Tools | Beacons
10 Ways White Supremacy Shows Up in My Black Body and How I Exorcise It - Tiffany Lee
Abolition Culture: Moving Beyond Disposability in the Movement | by Janaya Khan | Medium
